Google announces two new important security measures for Android

OR Google announced two new security features for Android that Alphabet says will enhance security while protecting user privacy.

The first feature is Google’s phone fraud detection that prevents you from falling into a fraudster’s scheme.

The second is Google Play Protect’s live threat detection that features real-time alerts to prevent you from installing malware and dangerous apps on your device.

According to Google, scammers steal over $1 trillion from people every year, and their favorite weapon is their victims’ phones. More specifically, these criminals use phone calls to deceive the public.

Google notes that these plots are becoming more complex and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to determine whether a call is legitimate or a scam. To help, Google introduced Scam Detection which is equipped with Google AI.

With fraud detection, Google’s AI helps spot fraud and stop it before any damage is done. Real-time fraud detection uses AI on device to alert the user in real-time if a call is a fraud.

The function looks for patterns in conversation and if e.g. a caller says it’s from the bank and needs the user to make a deposit immediately due to a compromised account, Scam Detection will look into the call to see if it’s a scam. If it’s a scam, you’ll get a visual warning, feel a tactile alert, and hear an audible alert.

Fraud detection is disabled by default and must be enabled by the user to start protection.

Fraud detection is now rolling out to English-language phones from Google public beta users in the US with a Pixel 6 or newer device.

To protect Android users from malware and dangerous apps, real-time protection is offered with Google Play Protect.

This feature analyzes the sensitive permissions requested by apps and how those apps interact with other apps and services. If the feature determines that an app is dangerous, you will be notified in real time by receiving an alert. This will allow you to take immediate steps to protect your phone and personal data from dangerous apps.

By looking at app activity patterns, live threat detection can help find malicious apps, even those that try hard to hide their behavior and those that pretend to be a normal app until called upon to attack.

When this feature is enabled, it will focus on stalkerware, a code that collects personal and sensitive data without the user’s consent. Google says it may expand the use of live threat detection to other types of dangerous apps in the future.

Live threat detection with real-time alerts is now available on Pixel 6 models and later. In the coming months, the feature will be available on Android phones made by other manufacturers.